I should start off with "The Great One", Jackie Gleason. A man that had millions laughing, at a time when we needed to laugh, he deserves the top spot in a DailyKOS diary. After all, his nickname is the title of this post.
Wayne Gretzky also deserves that distinction, his nickname is also "The Great One". Being an avid ice hockey fan, I am required to mention that tidbit. The only player to ever have his number retired by every team in a professional sports league not only makes him great, it's a presedent.
We have known many "Great Ones" in the history of... all time. How will I ever list them all, I don't intend to, I'd like you, the reader, to think of your idea of the "Great One". Someone who inspired you, who made you think differently than you had ever thought before.
Follow me beyond greatness...
Jesus was a great man/god, yet many do not agree. How else would one explain all the different religions of this planet? If there were one, true, "Great One", wouldn't we all agree on that fact? Muhammad, Buddha, and Confucius, might complain about getting second billing. Hell, Joseph Smith is probably hopping mad that people today don't take him seriously. I'd even be willing to wager that L. Ron Hubbard would like to chime in on that conversation.
It's not just our religious differences that separate us, it's everything that we believe, that tears us apart. Our belief that one God, one person, one belief, one team, is the right one; is wrong. Our collective understanding of the "Great One", is flawed, it's wrong, and it hurts us all. We all pretend to be on the "winning" team when things go our way, and act as if you killed our dog if the opposition wins but a victory.
Washington, Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, all "Great Ones". Rosa Parks sat on a bus, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, Barack Obama was elected to the highest office in this nation, who are our "Great One(s)". What defines a great one?
Discuss...